- Exhausting drives nonetheless matter the place capability, value effectivity and sturdiness outweigh uncooked velocity
- Most fashionable onerous drives are constructed for knowledge facilities, servers and specialised storage roles
- Client onerous drives are actually uncommon, whereas enterprise, NAS and video drives dominate
Exhausting disk drives are sometimes written off as legacy tech, however a better have a look at what remains to be on sale tells a distinct story.
After compiling an in depth record of 167 of one of the best onerous disk drives value shopping for, six clear factors emerged about who remains to be making HDDs, what they’re constructing, and who they’re really for.
The very first thing which stands out pertains to model. Western Digital has extra drives on the record than anybody else, with 66 fashions spanning client, NAS, enterprise, and specialist classes. That vary stretches from WD Blue client drives to WD Gold and Ultrastar fashions designed for knowledge facilities.
At present’s finest onerous disk drive offers
8TB is the brand new baseline
My second takeaway issues capability. Seagate is the king of the excessive finish drives, providing six fashions above 30TB, together with a number of Exos M and Exos X variants that go far past what most individuals affiliate with spinning disks.
No different producer comes shut. Whereas HDDs have disappeared from many client gadgets, capability progress on the prime finish remains to be massively essential.
Capability clustering tells its personal story. 8TB is the most typical dimension on the record, showing 21 occasions, adopted carefully by 12TB with 20 entries.
These capacities present up repeatedly in households like WD Pink Plus, Seagate IronWolf, and Toshiba N300. Drives beneath 8TB are actually all however out of date in new 3.5-inch fashions.
The fourth discovering seemingly received’t come as an enormous shock. Virtually half of the fashions, 80 in complete, are enterprise drives designed for knowledge facilities and large-scale storage.
Product traces resembling Seagate Exos, WD Ultrastar, and Toshiba MG dominate this class, and it is the place most HDD improvement effort is now centered, quite than on on a regular basis desktops.
The fifth takeaway reveals a extra centered viewers. There are 43 NAS-specific drives, together with Seagate IronWolf and IronWolf Professional, WD Pink Plus and Pink Professional, and Toshiba’s N300 vary. These are constructed for always-on programs in dwelling servers and small companies.
Surveillance drives are far much less frequent, with solely 17 fashions devoted to video workloads, resembling WD Purple and Seagate SkyHawk AI.
Apparently, solely 10 drives on the lengthy record are geared toward mainstream shoppers and Toshiba is the one producer nonetheless treating onerous drives as efficiency {hardware}. If presents 15 fashions in its X300 and X300 Professional traces for high-performance desktops and workstations quite than on a regular basis PCs.
It’s clear that whereas HDDs haven’t disappeared, as SSDs took over speed-driven duties, spinning disks have now settled into roles the place capability, sturdiness, and value per TB matter probably the most.
A fast word on the record. It excludes all onerous disk drives beneath 8TB, which are actually all however out of date in new 3.5-inch fashions. It additionally solely consists of 3.5-inch drives, not 2.5-inch ones. Drives from skilled refurbishers or relabeled fashions bought below manufacturers like HP or Dell had been not noted. The place a number of SKUs of the identical drive existed with minor variations resembling cache dimension, encryption, or formatting, solely a single consultant mannequin was counted.
|
Model |
Mannequin |
Mannequin ID |
Capability |
Phase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Seagate |
BarraCuda 8TB |
ST8000DM004 |
8TB |
Client |
|
Seagate |
BarraCuda 16TB |
ST16000DM001 |
16TB |
Client |
|
Seagate |
BarraCuda 20TB |
ST20000DM001 |
20TB |
Client |
|
Seagate |
BarraCuda 24TB |
ST24000DM001 |
24TB |
Client |
|
Seagate |
BarraCuda 28TB |
ST28000DM000 |
28TB |
Client |
|
Toshiba |
MD07 12TB |
MD07ACA12T |
12TB |
Client |
|
Toshiba |
MD07 14TB |
MD07ACA14T |
14TB |
Client |
|
Western Digital |
WD Blue 8TB |
WD80EAAZ |
8TB |
Client |
|
Western Digital |
WD Blue 10TB |
WD100EAGZ |
10TB |
Client |
|
Western Digital |
WD Blue 12TB |
WD120EAGZ |
12TB |
Client |
|
Western Digital |
WD Black 8TB |
WD8002FZBX |
8TB |
Efficiency |
|
Western Digital |
WD Black 10TB |
WD102FZBX |
10TB |
Efficiency |
|
Toshiba |
X300 8TB |
HDWR780XZSTA |
8TB |
Efficiency |
|
Toshiba |
X300 10TB |
HDWR71AXZSTA |
10TB |
Efficiency |
|
Toshiba |
X300 12TB |
HDWR51CXZSTA |
12TB |
Efficiency |
|
Toshiba |
X300 14TB |
HDWR51EUZSVA |
14TB |
Efficiency |
|
Toshiba |
X300 16TB |
HDWR51GXZSTA |
16TB |
Efficiency |
|
Toshiba |
X300 18TB |
HDWR51JUZSVA |
18TB |
Efficiency |
|
Toshiba |
X300 20TB |
HDWR62AXZSTA |
20TB |
Efficiency |
|
Toshiba |
X300 Professional 8TB |
HDWR780XZSTB |
8TB |
Efficiency |
|
Toshiba |
X300 Professional 10TB |
HDWR71AXZSTB |
10TB |
Efficiency |
|
Toshiba |
X300 Professional 12TB |
HDWR51CXZSTB |
12TB |
Efficiency |
|
Toshiba |
X300 Professional 14TB |
HDWR51EXZSTB |
14TB |
Efficiency |
|
Toshiba |
X300 Professional 16TB |
HDWR51GXZSTB |
16TB |
Efficiency |
|
Toshiba |
X300 Professional 18TB |
HDWR51JXZSTB |
18TB |
Efficiency |
|
Toshiba |
X300 Professional 20TB |
HDWR62AXZSTB |
20TB |
Efficiency |
|
Toshiba |
X300 Professional 22TB |
HDWR62AXZSTB |
22TB |
Efficiency |
|
Seagate |
IronWolf 8TB |
ST8000VN004 |
8TB |
NAS |
|
Seagate |
IronWolf 10TB |
ST10000VN000 |
10TB |
NAS |
|
Seagate |
IronWolf 12TB |
ST12000VN0008 |
12TB |
NAS |
|
Seagate |
IronWolf 16TB |
ST16000VN001 |
16TB |
NAS |
|
Seagate |
IronWolf Professional 8TB |
ST8000NT001 |
8TB |
NAS |
|
Seagate |
IronWolf Professional 12TB |
ST12000NT001 |
12TB |
NAS |
|
Seagate |
IronWolf Professional 14TB |
ST14000NT001 |
14TB |
NAS |
|
Seagate |
IronWolf Professional 16TB |
ST16000NT001 |
16TB |
NAS |
|
Seagate |
IronWolf Professional 18TB |
ST18000NT001 |
18TB |
NAS |
|
Seagate |
IronWolf Professional 20TB |
ST20000NT001 |
20TB |
NAS |
|
Seagate |
IronWolf Professional 22TB |
ST22000NT001 |
22TB |
NAS |
|
Seagate |
IronWolf Professional 24TB |
ST24000NT002 |
24TB |
NAS |
|
Seagate |
IronWolf Professional 28TB |
ST28000NT000 |
28TB |
NAS |
|
Seagate |
IronWolf Professional 30TB |
ST30000NT011 |
30TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 8TB |
HDWG780XZSTA |
8TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 10TB |
HDWG71AXZSTA |
10TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 12TB |
HDWG51CXZSTA |
12TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 14TB |
HDWG51EXZSTA |
14TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 16TB |
HDWG51GXZSTA |
16TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 18TB |
HDWG51JXZSTA |
18TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 20TB |
HDWG62AXZSTA |
20TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 Professional 8TB |
HDWG780XZSTB |
8TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 Professional 10TB |
HDWG71AXZSTB |
10TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 Professional 12TB |
HDWG51CXZSTB |
12TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 Professional 14TB |
HDWG51EXZSTB |
14TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 Professional 16TB |
HDWG51GXZSTB |
16TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 Professional 18TB |
HDWG51JXZSTB |
18TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 Professional 20TB |
HDWG62AXZSTB |
20TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 Professional 22TB |
HDWG62CXZSTB |
22TB |
NAS |
|
Toshiba |
N300 Professional 24TB |
HDWG82EXZSTB |
24TB |
NAS |
|
Western Digital |
WD Pink Plus 8TB |
WD80EFPX |
8TB |
NAS |
|
Western Digital |
WD Pink Plus 10TB |
WD101EFBX |
10TB |
NAS |
|
Western Digital |
WD Pink Plus 12TB |
WD120EFGX |
12TB |
NAS |
|
Western Digital |
WD Pink Professional 8TB |
WD8005FFBX |
8TB |
NAS |
|
Western Digital |
WD Pink Professional 10TB |
WD103KFBX |
10TB |
NAS |
|
Western Digital |
WD Pink Professional 12TB |
WD122KFBX |
12TB |
NAS |
|
Western Digital |
WD Pink Professional 14TB |
WD142KFGX |
14TB |
NAS |
|
Western Digital |
WD Pink Professional 16TB |
WD161KFGX |
16TB |
NAS |
|
Western Digital |
WD Pink Professional 18TB |
WD181KFGX |
18TB |
NAS |
|
Western Digital |
WD Pink Professional 20TB |
WD202KFGX |
20TB |
NAS |
|
Western Digital |
WD Pink Professional 22TB |
WD221KFGX |
22TB |
NAS |
|
Western Digital |
WD Pink Professional 24TB |
WD241KFGX |
24TB |
NAS |
|
Western Digital |
WD Pink Professional 26TB |
WD260KFGX |
26TB |
NAS |
|
Seagate |
Exos 2X18 16TB |
ST16000NM0092 |
16TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos 2X18 18TB |
ST18000NM0092 |
18TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos 7E10 8TB |
ST8000NM018B |
8TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos 7E10 10TB |
ST10000NM018B |
10TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos X18 10TB |
ST10000NM018G |
10TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos X18 12TB |
ST12000NM000J |
12TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos X18 14TB |
ST14000NM000J |
14TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos X18 16TB |
ST16000NM000J |
16TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos X18 18TB |
ST18000NM000J |
18TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos X20 18TB |
ST18000NM003D |
18TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos X20 20TB |
ST20000NM007D |
20TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos X24 12TB |
ST12000NM002H |
12TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos X24 16TB |
ST16000NM002H |
16TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos X24 20TB |
ST20000NM002H |
20TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos X24 24TB |
ST24000NM002H |
24TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos M 28TB |
ST28000NM003K |
28TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos M 30TB |
ST30000NM004K |
30TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos M 32TB |
ST32000NM003K |
32TB |
Enterprise |
|
Seagate |
Exos M 36TB |
ST36000NM003K |
36TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HA340 8TB |
0B47078 |
8TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HA340 10TB |
0B47062 |
10TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HA340 12TB |
0B47063 |
12TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC320 8TB |
0B36404 |
8TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC330 10TB |
0B42266 |
10TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC520 12TB |
0F30146 |
12TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC530 14TB |
0F31051 |
14TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC550 14TB |
0F38581 |
14TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC550 16TB |
0F38462 |
16TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC550 18TB |
0F38459 |
18TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC560 20TB |
0F38785 |
20TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC560 20TB |
0F38755 |
20TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC570 22TB |
0F48155 |
22TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC580 22TB |
0F62784 |
22TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC580 24TB |
0F62795 |
24TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC590 24TB |
0F65684 |
24TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC590 26TB |
0F65672 |
26TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC650 20TB |
ultrastar-dc-hc650-20-tb |
20TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC670 26TB |
ultrastar-dc-hc670-26-tb |
26TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC680 26TB |
0F62892 |
26TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC680 27TB |
0F62898 |
27TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC680 28TB |
0F62904 |
28TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC690 30TB |
WSH723200ALN601 |
30TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar DC HC690 32TB |
WSH723220ALN601 |
32TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar HC555 12TB |
0B48720 |
12TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar HC555 14TB |
0B48721 |
14TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar HC555 16TB |
0B48722 |
16TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar HC555 18TB |
0B48723 |
18TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
Ultrastar HC555 20TB |
0B48724 |
20TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
WD Gold 8TB |
WD8005FRYZ |
8TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
WD Gold 10TB |
WD103KRYZ |
10TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
WD Gold 12TB |
WD122KRYZ |
12TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
WD Gold 14TB |
WD142KRYZ |
14TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
WD Gold 16TB |
WD161KRYZ |
16TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
WD Gold 18TB |
WD181KRYZ |
18TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
WD Gold 20TB |
WD203KRYZ |
20TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
WD Gold 22TB |
WD221KRYZ |
22TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
WD Gold 24TB |
WD242KRYZ |
24TB |
Enterprise |
|
Western Digital |
WD Gold 26TB |
WD261KRYZ |
26TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG07 12TB |
MG07SCA12TA |
12TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG07 14TB |
MG07SCA14TA |
14TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG08 14TB |
MG08ACA14TA |
14TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG08 16TB |
MG08ACA16TA |
16TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG09 10TB |
MG09ACA10TA |
10TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG09 12TB |
MG09ACA12TA |
12TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG09 14TB |
MG09ACA14TA |
14TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG09 16TB |
MG09ACA16TA |
16TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG09 18TB |
MG09ACA18TA |
18TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG09 20TB |
MA09ACA20TAM |
20TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG10 8TB |
MG10ADA800E |
8TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG10 10TB |
MG10ADA10TE |
10TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG10F 20TB |
MG10AFA20TE |
20TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG10F 22TB |
MG10AFA22TE |
22TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG11 14TB |
MG11ACA14TE |
14TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG11 16TB |
MG11ACA16TE |
16TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG11 18TB |
MG11ACA18TE |
18TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG11 20TB |
MG11ACA20TE |
20TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG11 22TB |
MG11ACA22TE |
22TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG11 24TB |
MG11ACA24TE |
24TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MG08 8TB |
MG08ADA800A |
8TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
MA11 28TB |
Row 149 – Cell 2 |
28TB |
Enterprise |
|
Toshiba |
S300 Professional 8TB |
MD10ADA800V |
8TB |
Video |
|
Toshiba |
S300 Professional 10TB |
MD10ADA10TV |
10TB |
Video |
|
Seagate |
SkyHawk AI 8TB |
ST8000VE001 |
8TB |
Video |
|
Seagate |
SkyHawk AI 10TB |
ST10000VE001 |
10TB |
Video |
|
Seagate |
SkyHawk AI 12TB |
ST12000VE001 |
12TB |
Video |
|
Seagate |
SkyHawk AI 16TB |
ST16000VE004 |
16TB |
Video |
|
Seagate |
SkyHawk AI 20TB |
ST20000VE003 |
20TB |
Video |
|
Seagate |
SkyHawk AI 24TB |
ST24000VE002 |
24TB |
Video |
|
Western Digital |
WD Purple 8TB |
WD85PURZ |
8TB |
Video |
|
Western Digital |
WD Purple Professional 8TB |
WD8002PURP |
8TB |
Video |
|
Western Digital |
WD Purple Professional 10TB |
WD102PURP |
10TB |
Video |
|
Western Digital |
WD Purple Professional 12TB |
WD122PURP |
12TB |
Video |
|
Western Digital |
WD Purple Professional 14TB |
WD142PURP |
14TB |
Video |
|
Western Digital |
WD Purple Professional 18TB |
WD181PURP |
18TB |
Video |
|
Western Digital |
WD Purple Professional 22TB |
WD221PURP |
22TB |
Video |
|
Western Digital |
WD Purple Professional 24TB |
WD241PURP |
24TB |
Video |
|
Western Digital |
WD Purple Professional 26TB |
WD260PURP |
26TB |
Video |
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